Inge I. (Sweden)

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Inge I. , Inge Stenkilsson , Inge the Elder , (* before 1080; † after 1101) was King of Sweden from 1080 to around 1084 and around 1087 to around 1105 at the latest . Some sources claim that he had his brother Halsten as co-regent for a period of time . Other sources indicate that Halsten was sole ruler for a very short period of time around 1066 and was then deposed.

His parents were King Stenkil of Sweden and his wife, a daughter of Emund the old . He was married to Helena, probably identical to the "Mær" (= maiden) mentioned in Icelandic sources, probably the sister of his fellow king Sven , at least a woman from the Ynglinge family. According to an annal from the 15th century, he was married to Ragnhild , who is venerated as a saint and who is said to have donated the church of Södertälje . According to another annal from the 15th century, this was however with his nephew Inge d. J. married.

It is reported that Inge was deposed as king by the Svear around 1084 because he refused to sacrifice at the Thing . At least in the area of ​​this ethnic group it is said to have been replaced by Blot-Sven (sacrifice Sven). Inge is said to have been a deeply devout Christian , which many Svear disapproved of. Inge is believed to have slain Sacrifice-Sven in 1087, burned down the pagan temple in Old Uppsala and regained royal power in Sweden. The Hervarar legend , which is one of the ancient writings from this time, reports:

“Inge was king for a long time, he was popular and a good Christian; he abolished the festival of sacrifices in Svitjod (land of the Svear) and ordered that the people should be Christianized. "

Inge worked around the same time as the holy Eskil . At that time, paganism flourished once again, and Bishop Eskil was likely killed in 1083. Inge was expelled from Svealand and his brother-in-law Blot-Sven (victim-Sven) was used. Three years later Inge came back with an army and killed the last pagan Svea king. He burned Gamla Uppsala and built a church there. It is not certain to what extent this representation is historical. Until around 1085 he was sole ruler in Sweden.

Inge was the one who, on the advice of the Pope, had a monastery and church built in the town of Vreta , west of Lake Roxen . An old register states that King Inge and his wife Helena owned large estates in this area and left about 20 farms to the monks. This is said to have happened around 1100. Some commentators conclude that Inge came from Östergötland , but it is more likely that the homesteads either belonged to his wife or that they came into Inge's possession through sacrifice-Sven.

The papal letter on this event only names Inge as king: "Ingo gloriosus Suetonum Rex - Inge, the honorable King of the Svear".

Inge waged war against the Norwegian King Magnus Berrføtt . Erik Ejegod , Magnus Berrføtt and Inge the Elder made a lasting peace at the Epiphany in 1101 in Kungahälla (near today's Kungälv ) . This meeting of the three kings was described by Snorri Sturluson , among others . However, details of this meeting have not been passed down. According to Snorri, Inge should meet his daughter Margarethe with Magnus III at this meeting . wed to reassert peace.

The information from the sources about the time of Inge's death and also about his years without royal power are very unclear. There are many dates between 1103 and 1118 and it is also not clear whether he was still king when he died. He is said to be buried in the cemetery in Hånger in Småland , but according to various writings, his body was transferred to the monastery church of Varnhem in 1234 and reburied there under an unmarked stone in the aisle. In the church there is also a stone with an inscription, which on the initiative of John III. should have been set up. The text, which claims, among other things, that Inge was murdered by Danes in Skåne in 1064 , is doubted by many historians. Rasmus Ludvigsson , who is responsible for the text , seems to have taken his information directly from a rather insignificant chronicle (Lilla rimkrönikan) , which rarely agrees with other sources. It is believed that it was mixed with another king or tribal head.

In addition to the daughter Margarethe already mentioned, he had a son Ragnvald, who probably died before Inge, but is identified by some sources as King Ragnvald Knaphövde, who ruled east and central Sweden in the middle of the 12th century and was the father-in-law of King Harald Gille from Norway, as well as the daughters Christina, who was married to Grand Duke Mstislaw I of Kiev in 1095/96 , and Katarina, who married Björn Haraldsson Järnsida, a grandson of Erik I. Ejegod .

predecessor Office successor
Haakon Röde King of Sweden
around 1087–1105 		Philip

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b According to the Svensk biografisk lexikon , the earliest documentary mention is a letter from Pope Gregory VII of October 4, 1080 to Inge, King of Sweden. The last known mention is the Epiphany in Kunghäll 1101, in which he, Erik Ejegod from Denmark and Magnus bærefot from Norway participated.
  2. ↑ See Safn til sögu Íslands og íslenzkra bókmenta, Vol. 3. Copenhagen 1902, p. 642.

literature

personal data
SURNAME Inge I.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Inge Stenkilsson; Inge the elder
BRIEF DESCRIPTION King of Sweden
DATE OF BIRTH 11th century
DATE OF DEATH after 1100